In Rahat, the largest Bedouin city in Israel, Eid secretly aspires to be a playwright. An outcast among his work crew and misunderstood by his overbearing father, he’s only ever truly himself on Skype with his long-distance love, Dunia, or alone with his writing. Eid is haunted by memories of the sexual assault he suffered as a child and channels his emotions into the play he’s developing. While he longs to be a free spirit, Eid can’t resist tradition forever, and when the terms of his sister’s betrothal require him to marry into the same family, he finds himself thrust into adulthood. Dreaming of an artist’s life with Dunia in Paris, but with a pregnant wife at home, Eid must decide how to write the next act in his young life. Considered the first major feature from a Bedouin-Israeli filmmaker, Eid won multiple awards at 2024’s Jerusalem Film Festival, and lead Shadi Mar’i was voted Best Actor at the Israeli Academy Awards, a rare win for an Arab-Israeli performer. —Laura Henneman
California Premiere